Should "Special" Mean "Separate" for School Testing?

by Linda Lyons

The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law has generated its
share of controversy since it was passed in 2002. The law's
stipulations on measuring student achievement and reporting test
scores, for example, have drawn fire from educators because they
see them as one-size-fits-all approaches that just don't fit their
schools. One of NCLB's goals is to close the education gap between
wealthy and poor school districts by holding schools accountable
for every student's performance. In order to identify children and
schools that are slipping through the cracks, NCLB mandated
standardized state testing for all students in grades 3 through 8.
The law requires that test scores be broken down by poverty level,
race, and ethnicity, English proficiency, and disability.

Separating a school's standardized test scores by groups with
different backgrounds and needs in order to gauge groups'
educational achievements may seem like a worthy goal. But when
asked specifically about separate reporting of test scores in
general, according to such criteria as race and poverty level,
disability status, and ability to speak English, slightly more than
half of Americans (52%) said they oppose the practice, according to
the 2004 Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes
Toward the Public Schools*.

Although they don't advocate separating out specific groups'
scores, in the case of "special education" students, most recognize
the need to make exceptions. A majority of Americans (61%) believe
that students enrolled in special education should not "be
required to meet the same standards as all other students in the
school."

This question has implications beyond the special education
students themselves, because including or separating their test
scores from the overall average would affect the entire school's
ability to meet NCLB requirements. If a school is not making
"adequate yearly progress," based largely on combined test scores,
it will be designated as needing improvement. If progress
has not been reported over a four-year period, corrective action
will be taken, including replacing staff or implementing a new
curriculum. After five years with no improvement, the school must
be restructured by either replacing all or most of the school
staff, turning over operations to the state or a private education
company, or reopening the school as a charter school.

A majority (57%) of Americans say that the standardized test
scores of special education students should not "be
included with the test scores of all other students in determining
whether a school is in need of improvement under NCLB." And a
similar number -- 56% -- say that a school should not "be
designated in need of improvement if the special education students
are the only group in that school that fails to make state
goals."

Bottom Line

Solving this issue may be a challenge. Inclusion is an important
concept for many in the special education community and test scores
are no exception. The National Center on Educational Outcomes,
which researches and advises states and federal bodies on
educational assessment and accountability, believes that students
with disabilities benefit when they are included in accountability
systems. "Educators realize that these students also count, just
like all other students. They need to make sure that these students
learn to very high levels, just like other students. Because they
are part of the accountability system, educators' expectations for
students with disabilities are more likely to increase."

Julie Lutjeharms, a special education resource teacher in
Nebraska, also believes special education students should have
their scores included. "Different individuals might worry that
these special education children bring down the overall test scores
for a particular school or district and that that is not fair," she
says. "The fact of the matter is that these special education
children belong in that school just like every other child, and all
of the scores should be recognized."

*This article contains findings from the
36th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the
Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, released on Aug. 24
in Washington, D.C.

*The findings of the survey are based on telephone
interviews with a random sample of 1,003 U.S. adults, aged 18 and
older, conducted from May 28 to June 18, 2004. For results based on
this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error
attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3
percentage points.

Recommended

Few would disagree with No Child Left Behind's intention of ensuring "that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education." It's when one delves into the implementation that disagreements with the educational policy arise. One area of disagreement is how students with special needs are assessed and included in the NCLB accountability system.

In recent decades, many psychologists and educators have argued that some students learn differently than others do, and specific teaching strategies should be tailored to students' individual strengths. Before that can happen, teachers, parents, and students themselves must understand what students' strengths are.